BRITAIN'S dirty public toilets are considered a "national disgrace", a new survey showed.

Cleanliness was named the number one problem in a poll of 2,000 adults around the country.

More public toilets are needed - particularly for women, parents and children, research showed.

The National Consumer Council (NCC) which commissioned the survey is calling for free public conveniences in stations, shopping centres, busy high streets and play areas.

It also wants better facilities to be available to women and young families.

Two thirds of people questioned said public toilets were a "national disgrace".

Other top concerns were the safety of local council-run conveniences, followed by the need for them to be situated in better locations.

People also want public toilets to be open longer, the survey found.

The interviewees resented having to pay to spend a penny, with 90% of them saying facilities should be free of charge in places such as train stations and shopping centres.

Nearly all the respondents said their local council should ensure public conveniences reached a high standard.

Philip Cullum, deputy chief executive of the NCC said: "All around the country, people enjoying their bank holiday weekend will find public toilets closed or in an appalling state. This has a particular impact on older and disabled people and those with young families.

Reversed

"The dramatic decline of this most basic public service has to be reversed."

Mr Cullum called for local councils to provide more public conveniences.

The provision and maintenance of public toilets is at the discretion of local councils. Under current law they are not obliged to provide them, the NCC said.

The pressure group wants central Government to ensure that local councils maintain their facilities to a high standard.

Responding to the survey, a Local Government Association spokesman said: "It is up to councils' discretion as to the type of public toilet provision that is suitable locally, but in recent years the pressure on councils to prioritise spending in other areas, particularly education and social services with a gap government grant, often means that toilet provision has had to be given a lower priority so as not to push up council tax."

Interviewees in Yorkshire and Humberside were least happy with public toilets in their area, with 77% branding the facilities "a national disgrace".

Three quarters of interviewees in Wales felt the same way, as did 68% of people from the North West, 67% from the North East and 66% from the West Midlands.

People questioned in Scotland were least critical, with only 59% agreeing with this statement.

Most Londoners (90%) were keen for facilities to be improved for women and children, followed by 87% of people surveyed in Wales, 84% in the South East, 81% in the North West and 79% in the West Midlands.

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